The moment
I'm still
I start
to slip
Not tranquil
Free fall
fit
I ****
Wide awake
You
Insist
You're pulling
The strings

America
How did we get here
24 hour news cycle
Veal force fed fear
Reality television
Without any content
Morality supposition
Flaming discontent
Ignored civic duty
We really don't care
Reward the unruly
We like what we hear
Some because
we're better than that
Others because
they want to take back
What never belonged
To only the few
It's not media bias
That you can undo
You've tended a tree
Of hatred and fear
Don't be surprised
By the fruit that it bears
It's become inconvenient
Even you can see that
Calling fact fiction
And fiction fact
It's a grand old party
But parties don't last
Your house is on fire
And you lit the match

Momentarily
I will be still
Eventually
I will be still
Eternally
I will be still
Perpetually
Restless will

scorcher
irreverent
cocky
fire *******
such luminosity
defying expectations
suscitavit a canibus
they dominated you
feral pack
left you no scraps
rescued
via one
whom recused
not up to the task
cannot fill in the gaps
teach you the facts
but some teachers trespass
broke free from their fold
swallowed them whole
insoluble
intolerable
Yet such luminosity
Wit
Generosity
Unfiltered
curiosity
Deprived of the basics
A need to know basis
Survival instinct
Relationships
Extinct
In some fashion
An artists
Rendition
Creative spark
Nuclear fission
Compassionate
Empathetic
For all you will listen
Except for yourself
A struggle
Willful prohibition

When did you
Become me?
Or did I
become you?
Is apathy
Your analgesic?
Stranger  
In a strange body
Did you run away
To leave me frozen here ?

I cannot read
your mind
And anyways
I'm not a fan
Of Horror stories

I never could
Read between
The lines
All I see
Is
The space
That
Separates
You
From
Me

Hit the brakes
Jaw drop
Come to a
Short stop
Stop motion
Mystery
Stick man
In front of me
Staggering
To watch you cross
Such a will
I'm at a loss
Pondering
As you pass
Steadfast
On your path
How long was it
To get to here
Atlas shrugged
He could not bear
The crushing weight
My future fears
An audience
Of just one peer
Time lapsed
In this spot
Freeze frame
Racing thoughts
Self flagellation
Shame on me
Marching cross
That may
Not be

A thought
Contemplated
Corrupts
Controls
And conspires
To be free
A word
Given breath
Breath taking
Independent
Indiscriminate
Unstoppable
No other word
Will
Catch
Or
Contain
It
Write down
The names of
Your accomplices
Here
And we
Will let
You
Go
Free

To be clear
An anecdote about
All the suffering in the world
Is not to be confused with
An antidote
For the pain
Of the person you
Are telling it to

When I look at you
Myself
Who I see
Looks back
Intense
So far from
Me
That I can't recall
What you looked like

We're in this together
At least for now that is
Too soon to say
When we will finally decide
To go our separate ways
Routine
Ebb and flow
As we traverse hallow ground
We make it look easy
Together yet apart
Fluid in symphony
Floating soap bubble
Stretching
Swirling
Waiting to erupt
Make no mistake
Should you falter
I will fly
Unleashing such
calamity
You will hunt me down
Crush me for my
Ignominy
Swallow me whole
Embrace me in your fold
Act as though
It never happened
Sweet indifference
My insolence
My impotence
Click back in place
Smile disguised grimace
Hold on
For
Just
another
Turn

...and they lived
Happily ever after
Funny
That's the end of the story
Happily ever after
Is not a story in and of itself
At least not one that people
Are interested in
Libraries and museums
Crammed with works
Volume upon volume
Detailing the suffering
Of the human condition
Happiness ever after
Is banished
To the remainders table

I should write this down
Before I forget
Because I know I will
Forget
And you will
forget
And
it
I
You
will be
Forgotten
Unless I nail it down
Here
Now
Forever

Two
from
Four
Half
of what
ought to be
remains
so much more
than I
can
carry

Momentum
moving
keep moving
around
circling
mustn’t stop
for a moment
I’ll get stuck
keep moving
running away
til
I am moved
to stop
by a thought
bringing me down

A groove
Cut too
Shallow
A shoulder
Too high
Unsupported
Raw layers
Veneers
Exposed
Rocking
Back
And forth
Till something
Splinters
And cracks
No amount
Of glue
Will hold this
Together
Rabbet
Rout
Remove even
More of
The material
Myself
Repeat until
The pieces
Hold fast

awake
alone
night
and day
even the cats
who awoke me
have abandoned me
know better than me
how to satiate their needs
ruminate on my plight
stare at the harsh light
of a tiny screen
that casts no warmth
no comfort
illusory connection
nothing more
than a window
to mew at

Silent explosion
Not a sound
To accompany
The detonation
Fragmented
Bits of life
Strewn around
A place
That can no longer
Contain
It's concept
Unsafe
Unwelcoming
Too tired
For triage
Tired of stumbling
Through this
Endless
Minefield

I see you clearly
You cannot hide it
Not like me
Like me
Although you do not know
We're both in the same show
Every cell in my body
Buzzing
An Atomic level
Of anticipation
Waiting for their big
Debut

You are not well
You are not yourself
Not anymore
From this pivotal point
Your sense of self
Will be in flux
As you struggle to
Redefine
You
All the while
Wondering
If it is
You
Doing
The redefining

wait
be patient
waiting room
out patient
hospital remainders
bland art walls
endless beige carpets
down narrow clinic halls
door after door hiding
other peoples lives
suffering
white noise
appointment to appointment
slowly cycle thru
the medical digestive system
please hold
describe your pain
numerically
so we can assist you
mathematically
your story
your self
one to ten
in under fifteen
this is not a bill
but you may be reprehensible

They say
Your  life
Flashes before your eyes
In the moments before death
Your mind
Slowing the perception
Of time
Struggling to piece together
How your entire history
Led you to this
I look back
Wistfully
On a youth wasted
Looking forward
Wishfully
How did I miss
Their junction?
I think
Death will be
A moment in time
For which I will be
Present
And accounted for

What are you thinking?
Eyes fixed on mine
Your pupils
Pulling mine own into focus
From a million miles away
Their gravity
The gravity
Where was I?
A vast wasteland of a universe
Footsteps upon footsteps
Feeling I've been here
So many times before
Feeling I've been here
Too Long
I forgot to stop
Treading along
This path
This earth
The gravity
Finally pulling me down
Pulling me out
What are you thinking?

nothing